


Horns

by Euria



Series: Moon Children [2]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Family Fluff, Husbands, M/M, Pre-Canon, True Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:00:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26534761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Euria/pseuds/Euria
Summary: For elven children, the growth of their horns can be very painful and even dangerous. While watching over Rayla, Runaan, remembers how it was for him. Thankfully, his husband is there to cuddle with him.
Relationships: Ethari/Runaan (The Dragon Prince)
Series: Moon Children [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1895752
Comments: 8
Kudos: 58





	Horns

**Author's Note:**

> I just finished. It is actually rare for me to finish anything on the same day I started to write it, even if it is just that short. But it just felt right.

Many would deny it, but to be a human meant sometimes to enjoy certain benefits. And no, it's not because they have five fingers on each of their hands. The elves were more than fine with just four of them; even managed to be way deadlier than humans. So, this wasn't the problem here - the horns were, or more precisely their development. An elven child endured a great deal of pain while teething and during the horn’s growth. The more spiral or curved they became the more it hurt. Since this appendix was part of their skull and a such near their brains it could lead to severe encephalitis and ultimately to death. Thank Avizandum, that occurred exceedingly rare, so that some elves believed it was only a myth. Runaan however could tell it's true by own experience. He was not only one of those unlucky fellows who suffered through this dangerous inflammation but also one of the only three in the history of Silvergrove that survived it without further damage.

“Love. Is everything alright?”, asked Ethari. The blacksmith stood at the threshold for almost ten minutes now, without being noticed by his husband. He wasn't even trying to sneak up on him and considering the other man was an assassin this behavior was alarming.

Runaan slowly looked up, as if in need to process the question thoroughly. A fine, shiny veil covered his eyes and he clenched his fists so strongly that the knuckles turned white. He didn't respond. The thoughts carried him far away into events of a long-forgotten past. For years now, it was lost to him and his mind, this not enviable story called childhood. His childhood: “I'm fine, just worried about Rayla.”

Ethari let out a heavy breath: “So, you decided to lie to me.” He raised his left hand in a fast motion, showing the other elf an open palm, demonstrating this way that arguing won't be accepted: “Of course you're worrying over her. I would never deny the truth of that statement. But, love, you're not fine. Worse. Far from it.”

The man crossed the room and crouched down in front of the wooden armchair with the yellow upholstery, into which tiny golden leaves were meticulously embroidered. The piece of furniture belonged once to his great aunt. She loved the autumn like no one else in whole Xadia. Now it belonged to him, as she wanted. When Rayla moved in, he decided it should stand in her room for when one of them wished to watch over the girl if sick or hurt. Currently the growth of her horns caused a fever. They gave her medicine and put her to bed. Nothing out of ordinary. All children went through that. But for some reason his husband seemed to be honestly scared. Ethari leaned in closer and propped himself up on Runaans knees, looking up directly into to most beautiful turquoises of all. He very much disliked the reddened and glazed gleam which was covering them: “What happened? Please, tell me. You know you can tell me everything, right?”

The assassin laughed weakly. “I know.”, he whispered. Instead of explaining what saddened him so much, he stood up causing Ethari to fall backwards on his backside. Just in time the other silenced himself as to not wake up the sleeping girl. However, before the blacksmith knew what was happening to him, his husband was already laying in his arms, hiding his face in the men’s chest. Oh, now he knew it! Something was terribly wrong!

“When I was a child and my horns were growing their caused me tremendous amount of pain. I remember lying on the floor one day, holding my head as hard as I could, screaming over and over again how much it hurts. There was nothing else anymore; just fear and pain. A lot of pain.”, he whispered yet again.

Ethari hugged him closer: “Encephalitis?”

“Yes. It can go unnoticed or be deadly dangerous. For me it was the second case. I can't remember what exactly the healer did or give to me back then, but I woke up three weeks later. My parents told me that I was incredibly lucky. During those three weeks my state kept worsening, so they even considered to remove my horns entirely to safe my life. But just before the healer could do it the medicine finally started to work. Yet, even after all those years I still remember the pain. It scares me it could happen to Rayla, too. This is different than any cut or bruise from training and even all the wounds I ever received during the missions. Nothing hurts so much!”

The smith hugged him even closer, yet careful not to crush the smaller and more fragile man. He planted serval tender kisses atop Runaans head and horns: “Now I understand why you were so tense when I put the cuffs on your horns the first time. They recall you of your torment and if someone touch them you are just more aware of them. But you seem to be fine when I'm kissing them.”

Now Runaan's laughter was sincere and somehow light, he even looked up at Ethari: “Because their warmth and softness are the exact opposite of the pain I felt. Once you started doing it, I stopped hating them. Thank you.”

“Aww you're so sweet. You don't have to thank me. Just, come to me if something is bothering you. There is no need for fighting any demons alone, for that we're married to crush them together. And as for Rayla, don't worry. She has just a slight fever and her horns will be pretty straight, only tilted backwards.”

The couple sat like that for hours till the tiredness softly reached out for them, caressing both into a peaceful slumber. They will never know that Rayla was awake all this time, carefully listening to them and that she was the one who put a blanket over them. That night she decided to kill anyone who would dare to even look funny at Runaan's horns. Only Ethari was allowed to touch them in her opinion.


End file.
